Monday, November 26, 2007

Well, it is time for the annual look back over the shoulder at what was and how we got here. (How did we get here anyway?) Hmm.......and so fast!

Regardless of the speedy passage of time, here is the deal. I am going to post up a retrospective of where Guitar Ted Productions has been and where it is going throughout the month of December. (Wait! It's not even December yet!) Yeah, yeah.........I know! I figured I'd just get a head start on it, for cryin' out loud.

The year started out with a bit of uncertainty. I was coming into a fundamental change in my role as a blogger and Internet poster/time waster. Gee........things were so much simpler when I was just a plain ol' time wastin' internet troll........sigh! Uhhh..........anyway! Yeah, I was now at a point where my gig with Twenty Nine Inches was going to be stepping up to the plate and throwin' down some cabbage for my efforts. I was wondering where it would lead to and how it might affect this blog. Things have changed mightily, I might add!

The first significant event of the year was Frostbike. That annual dealer only show up at Quality Bicycle Products warehouse in the 'burbs of the Twin Cities. Of course, I got to see some good friends of mine from Salsa Cycles and Twin Six. (Twin Six World Domination Headquarters actually housed my carcass overnight! Thanks Brent!) Probably the highlight of that weekend though was the riding of the 36 inch wheeled bicycle belonging to Ben Witt of Milltown Cyclery. Since that first 36"er was built two more have come into existence. Pretty cool idea and the best smile inducing cycling product of 2007 by miles!

As a side note, I picked up my first set of Industry 9 hoops that weekend too. They were to go on a Secret Project bike which I announced on my blog about this time as well. Later on, another Secret Project bike was added to the hopper and the madness would continue on right up to this point.

The next big gig of 2007: Sea Otter. Yep! Plane trips, lost luggage, and hotel livin' for a week. Sounded kind of like a slog through a week of bicycle stuff, but it turned out to be anything but that. Trek/Fisher/Bontrager had a Press Camp up at Santa Cruz for two days prior to Sea Otter and what a blast! Besides getting the scoop on all the new products in the pipeline, I got to see Gary Fisher himself, and ride his prototype automatic shifting 27 speed commuter bike. I got to eat at Keith Bontragers house and scarf a meal made by Keith himself. I got to get lost with Trek and Bontrager product managers in a rental van in Santa Cruz. I got to get up on two wheels with new hire Michael Browne (late of Dirt Rag fame) in another rental van. I had my test bike wrenched on by SSWC and Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Travis Brown. Plus I poached some sweet trail at Nisene Marks on some cool Trek and Fisher mountain bikes. I could have quit the year right there, went home and had stories to last me until now. The thing is, it wasn't even the halfway point yet!

That's it for today. I'll continue on with the Sea Otter saga in another post. Look for that in a few days. I won't make ya'all suffer through my "rearview" everday!